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I spoke on a panel with you in November last year at the International Feminist and Secular Network in Paris.

I am writing to express my outrage at the cold-blooded murder of freethinkers at Charlie Hebdo today and to give my unequivocal support.

Freedom of expression and the criticism of religion and Islam are basic rights. Clearly, free expression without the right to criticise religion is meaningless. Throughout history, criticism of religion (that which is deemed sacred or taboo) has been intrinsic to human progress.

In the era of ISIS and the religious-Right, this criticism is a historical necessity and needed more than ever.

The Islamists who killed today said they were “avenging” Islam’s prophet but Mohammed cartoons are merely an excuse. The aim of such acts of terrorism – whether in Paris or Afghanistan – are to defend their theocratic and inhuman values. They must know that we too will defend our human values – secularism, equality, citizenship, the right to religion and to be free from religion, the right to criticise and mock religion… which are not “western” values but universal ones.

Today’s killers are part of the same movement that massacres schoolchildren in Peshawar, throws acid in the faces of “improperly veiled” women in Iran and crucifies secularists in Kobane. They need no excuses to commit murder and mayhem.

The battle to commemorate the lives lost today is an ongoing one. It’s a battle between secularists versus theocrats everywhere. And it is a fight that we have to win. No ifs or buts.

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The murderous attack today by Islamic terrorists on the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo has aroused people’s anger and disgust around the world. Charlie Hebdo is a left, progressive satirical weekly which criticises and ridicules religion and religious beliefs, prejudices and taboos. In 2011 the magazine’s office was firebombed by Islamists for publishing a caricature of Muhammed, and its editor and writers have repeatedly received death threats. In today’s attack 12 people, including the magazine’s editor and three well-known French cartoonists, were killed. This is a direct attack on freedom of expression, on freedom to criticise religion and on civilisation and humanity. [Read more…]

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We hope you are well and looking forward to the holidays and New Year.

We’ve had a brilliant year, thanks to your support. In 2015, we aim to continue supporting ex-Muslims and challenging apostasy laws whilst exposing hate speech like “kafir” and “murtad” and raising awareness on the special plight of ex-Muslim women.

7 February 2015 London conference on Apostasy, Sharia Law and Secularism

We will discuss the situation of ex-Muslims in Britain and internationally, apostasy and blasphemy laws, Islamism and the religious-Right, the veil and burqa as well as the successful campaigns against the Law Society and Universities UK for their legitimisation of Sharia law at a day-conference near Kings Cross on 7 February 2015.

Speakers at the conference will include Aliyah Saleem, Amal Farah, Chris Moos, Gita Sahgal, Imad Iddine Habib, Maryam Namazie, Nahla Mahmoud, Pragna Patel, Ramin Forghani, Rumana Hashem, and Yasmin Rehman amongst others. You can find out more on how to register here. Please register as soon as possible as space is limited.

Ex-Muslim Women’s Project

In the coming year, the CEMB will focus on the plight of ex-Muslim women, including by publishing a report, producing video testimonials and by providing additional support and assistance. Ex-Muslim women interested in taking part in video testimonials and working with the project, please get in touch as soon as possible.

Anti-Hate Speech Campaign and Poster Competition

If you have been called “kafir”, “murtad”, “munafiq”, “zindiq” or any similar derogatory term aimed at intimidation and incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence against ex-Muslims please contact us with the details. We are gathering evidence in order to push for changes in practice by police, institutions and government with regards to hate speech against ex-Muslims (and of course others including dissenting Muslims).

In lieu of our campaign, we are also organising an anti-hate speech poster competition; the winning poster will be used in our campaign against Islamist hate speech. Send in your submissions no later than 1 May 2015.

Past Year Highlights

Highlights in 2014 have included co-sponsoring a hugely successful “International Conference on the Religious-Right, Secularism and Civil Rights” and other events such as a Kafir comedy night, an ex-Muslim picnic and evening drinks; assisting nearly 400 ex-Muslims in Britain and internationally; increasing the profile of ex-Muslims in the media; publishing a report on iERA (an Islamist hate group, which is now being investigated by the Charities Commission); organising international days of action in support of blasphemers and apostates; supporting successful campaigns against Universities UK’s gender-segregation guidance and the Law Society’s note on Sharia-compliant wills; and making courts more open to apostate asylum cases. CEMB letters of support are highly regarded and influential in securing the right to asylum for ex-Muslims. Moreover, our web-forum continues to act as one of our most important vehicles with 4,000 plus users. The forum publishes articles and creates a safe space for ex-Muslims to help each other, and gain emotional and practical support. The CEMB forum Twitter account continues to grow and has been active in promoting issues surrounding apostasy, secularism and the religious-Right.

Internationally, a number of groups were formed and affiliated with the CEMB, including Ex-Muslims of North America, Ex-Muslims of Austria and Ex-Muslims of Scotland; they joined the Councils of Ex-Muslims in France, USA, Morocco (the first country with Islam as a state religion), and New Zealand. Recently, we have new affiliates from Pakistan and Turkey. During this year, Somali-born Amal Farah joined Sudanese-born Nahla Mahmoud and Iranian-born Maryam Namazie as spokesperson for the organisation and we set up an office in central London.

None of our work in 2014 could have been possible without your support so thank you! We are also grateful to Trust for London, The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science UK, the David Bleines Memorial Trust, Muriel Seltman and many others for their donations. We are particularly grateful to those who donate on a monthly basis via standing order.

Support Us!

As you well know, we rely on individual donations to do our work. We don’t get government funding or the huge amounts of support that Islamists do so we need your continued support to carry on doing the work we do. For the New Year, please join our small but important group of monthly donors or give us a one off donation if you can. Any amount helps and will be much appreciated! Here’s information on how you can donate.

We look forward to continuing, together, our fight for equality, secularism and rights and countering the religious-Right, racism and cultural relativism in the months and years to come.

What is wrong with multiculturalism?
Interview with French author Caroline Fourest
16 December 2014
Multiculturalism as a social policy divides and segregates people into homogeneous communities and societies and ignores dissent, class politics and social movements. It has been instrumental in the rise of the religious-Right and militarism as well as the justification of rights violations in the name of “tolerance”.
Shocking news of the week: On CIA brutal torture report
Insane Fatwa of the week: On ISIS fatwa department’s guide on how to capture and rape female slaves

Should labels of Kafir or Murtad be deemed Hate Speech?
9 December 2014
Interview with Imad Iddine Habib, the founder of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Morocco – the first public atheist organisation in a country with Islam as the state religion
Background: In countries like Iran, those labelled Kafir, Murtad, Munafiq or apostate and blasphemer like young Soheil Arabi are given death sentences under Sharia law. In the west, though, such intimidating and threatening labels against ex-Muslims as well as dissidents, freethinkers and Muslims who don’t toe the line are seen to be a question of free speech. In fact, it is hate speech perpetrated by Islamist hate groups.
Shocking news of the week: Soheil Arabi faces execution in Iran for his postings deemed “insulting to prophet” in Iran.
Insane Fatwa of the week: US Pastor Steven Anderson says AIDS can be stopped by Christmas is gays are executed.

Should parallel legal systems like Sharia exist?
On Law Society and the withdrawal of its Sharia-compliant wills note
2 December 2014
Pragna Patel’s speech at Secular Conference 2014 in London
Shocking news of the week:
Iran and Sudan oppose UN Human Rights’ Committee’s call for ban of child marriages
Insane Fatwa of the week:
Polio remains endemic in northern Nigeria due to fatwa in Kano that claimed the free polio vaccine was a plot to sterilise their children and eliminate the ‘true believers’.

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One Law for All, Southall Black Sisters, the Centre for Secular Space, Nari Diganta and the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation have welcomed the Law Society’s withdrawal of their sharia wills practice note.

The practice note advised solicitors on how to draw up ‘Sharia-compliant’ wills, stating that

“… illegitimate and adopted children are not Sharia heirs … The male heirs in most cases receive double the amount inherited by a female heir … Non-Muslims may not inherit at all … a divorced spouse is no longer a Sharia heir…”

The ensuing campaign organised by women’s rights advocates Pragna Patel, Maryam Namazie, Gita Sahgal, Yasmin Rehman, Dianna Nammi, Rumana Hashem and Chris Moos has seen an open letter to Asma Jahangir, the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief; and an open letter to the Law Society included signatories such as scientist Richard Dawkins, writer Taslima Nasrin and founder of Secularism is a Woman’s Issue Marieme Helie Lucas, amongst others.

On April 28, a well-attended protest at the offices of the Law Society featured speakers such as human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, Muslim Institute Fellow Yasmin Rehman, Rumana Hashem from Nari Diganta – Women in Movement for Social Justice, Secularism and Equal Rights, and Diana Nammi, Chief Executive of the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation.

The organisers of the campaign also obtained legal advice from Karon Monaghan QC of Matrix Chambers, which stated that the Practice Note was unlawful as it provided guidance to solicitors that promotes an interpretation of Sharia that is discriminatory on the grounds of gender, religion and ethnicity and thus gave rise to the possibility of direct discrimination by solicitors. This came after the Solicitor’s Regulatory Authority had already withdrawn its endorsement of the Law Society’s Practice Note on July 10, following the threat of legal action from Southall Black Sisters.

In addition, the campaigners also found that the Law Society had used the works of an extremist cleric, who has advocated flogging and stoning for “fornicators”, for their Practice Note. The campaign received extensivepresscoverage and political support, including from Justice Secretary Chris Grayling, who warned that the Law Society’s Practice Note risks undermining the rule of law.

Pragna Patel, Director of Southall Black Sisters, said:

“SBS welcomes the Law Society’s decision to withdraw the discriminatory guidance. We also acknowledge that it has publicly apologised for having produced the ill-advised guidance in the first place. Let this episode serve as a warning to other public bodies that may be contemplating instituting ‘Sharia compliant’ measures that flout equality and human rights law and values, which must be regarded as universal and non-negotiable. We now look forward to working with the Law Society to address the devastating impact of the legal aid cuts which also prevent many abused and marginalised women from minority backgrounds from accessing justice.”

Maryam Namazie, founder of One Law for All, commented:

“The Law Society has finally succumbed to our pressure and withdrawn its guidance a week before women’s rights groups were to meet with them to step up our pressure against the discriminatory nature of their Sharia-compliant guidance. This is another huge victory for equality, one law for all and civil rights and yet another loss for the religious far-right. We congratulate all those who took part in this campaign. One law for all is not an empty slogan but must mean something particularly when it comes to the law.”

Gita Sahgal, Director of the Centre for Secular Space, said:

“We are delighted that the Law Society has finally seen sense and made clear that they do not wish to condone discrimination, have withdrawn the note entirely and will not seek to replace it. Their apology is very welcome. This is a victory against the institutionalisation of religious law. Secular values protect the rule of law far better than the regulators do. There are many battles ahead to protect human rights and access to justice. We have a common interest in these struggles.”

Chris Moos, one of the organisers of the campaign, concluded:

“The Law Society has done the only sensible thing – withdraw the guidance for good and apologise for promoting the use of discriminatory practices in the first place. Hopefully, those who have defended the practice note will now realise that the only way public bodies and representative organisations can be sure to meet their equality duties is by adhering to the principle of secular neutrality in matters of belief.”

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It was recently brought to my attention that Kaveh Mousavi has written on my “misrepresentations” about Iranian politics. I don’t know who he is and haven’t followed his writings but this one post is sufficient for me to place him on the political spectrum of Iranian politics. All else is smoke and mirrors.

The crux of the matter is that Kaveh supports the “reformist” wing of the Islamic regime of Iran vis-a-vis the “Conservative” faction and therefore sees my opposition to his beloved faction and regime as “misrepresentation” and “lying”. He says there are differences between Rouhani and Ahmadinejad as if that is enough to protect the regime’s leadership from scrutiny.

Clearly, there are differences – that’s not the point. If there weren’t, there wouldn’t be infighting between the two factions now would there? But the differences are a matter of degree. Despite the differences, both factions fundamentally want the regime’s survival . Their strategies differ but the differences in strategy are on how to manage the survival of a theocractic regime that is faced with immense opposition from various sectors of Iranian society. It’s not about reforms (which in the real world means improvements in people’s lives via changes in law or public policy not mere rhetoric).

This should not be so difficult to understand even for Kaveh. There are differences between ISIS, Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic regime of Iran… but fundamentally they want an Islamic state; their rule means the very same thing for people living under their boot. If there are any differences between the lives of people in Kobane, Raqqa, Tehran or Riyadh, it is not because of any “moderate” Islamists but because of people’s protests and their ongoing refusal to submit. You don’t have to have ever lived in Iran to know the role of “moderate” Islamists in normalising and strengthening Islamism; it’s evident even in the West.

Kaveh defends the “reformists” by crediting them for any breathing space in Iran. Rather, the “reformists” are the result of people’s protests. It is the dissent that has created the infighting and that has forced breathing spaces not the other way around.

Don’t forget, “reformists” like Rouhani or Khatami have been permitted to run in the so-called elections only with the approval of the “Conservative” leader Khamenei and the Council of Guardians. Only men who have shown complete loyalty to the Islamic system have any chance of entering and remaining in positions of power. The track records of these “reformists” speaks for themselves. Mousavi was Prime Minister during the notorious 1980s, a period in which Iran Tribunal has found the regime guilty of crimes against humanity. Khatami was Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance responsible for censorship during that time and the current president Rouhani has been a member of the regime’s Assembly of Experts, its Expediency Council and the Supreme National Security Council. “Reformists” indeed!

So of course I oppose both factions of the regime. I oppose its entirety, no matter how it is dressed and presented. For me, and for many others, whether they live in Iran or not, a theocracy is the end of any form of democratic politics. Call it “elections” if you want. Call it “reformist” or “moderate” if you want.

To defend the ruling elite (any segment of it) of a dictatorship where the law and public policy and the state and all its machinery still kills people for blasphemy and enmity against god and considers women half the worth of men is indefensible.

Such a regime has to end – it can’t be reformed just as you can’t reform a state based on racial apartheid or fascism. It has to end not by US-led militarism or economic sanctions that harm the public but by revolution as the only way in which people can fully intervene to be rid of dictatorships and theocracies. Of course the outcome is never guaranteed like any struggle or fight for change but I will always put my faith in social movements and people’s will to change things for the better than criminals feigning to be “reformist” in order to control and maintain Islamic rule as Kaveh does.

Yes I don’t live in Iran. I don’t think this is breaking news. I would most probably not be alive today if I did and there are enough threats from the regime, Iranian press mentions and death lists on which I am purported to be on to explain why. I, like many others, have been forced to leave our homes and live in exile because of a regime that cannot tolerate dissent. But whether I live in Iran or not is irrelevant. I don’t need to have lived in Iran or be Iranian or spent the past several decades in Iranian politics and worked with countless refugees who have fled or been persecuted by this regime to understand Iranian politics. Just as I don’t have to be South African to oppose racial apartheid or Palestinian to oppose the Israeli state’s occupation. Just as one does not have to be gay to defend gay rights or a woman to defend women’s rights.

Politics is about our values and where we stand irrespective of our identities, gender, where we live and where we were born…

Kaveh’s politics are clear as are mine.

His role is to defend the regime by defending a faction of it and to persuade people to be satisfied with a theocracy. Mine is to defend progressive social movements and people’s opposition to an Islamic state which is incompatible with the 21st century. His role is to support the “reformist” strategy calling on people to stay in their homes, not protest, scorn the opposition and only use the permissible mechanisms provided to them by a dictatorship; mine is to defend revolution, refusal and resistance.

Kaveh says that by opposing the “reformists”, I show that I do not care about the Iranian people. I am not sure how his defence of a section of a regime that murders at will shows any real concern for human life.

There are many other absurdities in his piece, which I have neither the time nor interest to respond to. I would only suggest that Kaveh step up and defend his precious regime without hiding his support behind attacks against me. He can call himself “atheist” and “liberal” all he wants. There are many examples of such “atheists” and “liberals” who have sided with the Islamists at the expense of those who refuse and resist and he is just one more of them. It’s nothing to be proud of.

250 secularists, including believers, free-thinkers, agnostics and atheists from the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and the Diaspora assembled at the unprecedented and historic gathering to discuss resistance against the repression and violence of various manifestations of the religious-Right.

They highlighted the voices of the many persecuted and exiled and the strength of the demand for secularism despite grave risks.

The conference, which was convened by Algerian sociologist Marieme Helie Lucas and Iranian-born Campaigner Maryam Namazie, called on people everywhere to sign the Manifesto for Secularism and join in this historical task.

The conference was not an end but a beginning of great things to come.

3. Indonesian band SIMPONI was announced as the winner of One Law for All’s Sounds of Freedom award with their entry “Sister in Danger”, a tribute to Indonesian victims of sexual violence.

4. The conference was endorsed by Atheist Alliance International; Atheist Union of Greece; Bread and Roses TV; Children First Now; Center for Inquiry; Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain; Equal Rights Now – Organisation against Women’s Discrimination in Iran; Fitnah – Movement for Women’s Liberation; International Committee against Stoning; International Committee against Execution; International Federation of Iranian Refugees; Iran Solidarity; National Secular Society; One Law for All; Pink Triangle Trust; Secularism is a Women’s Issue; Southall Black Sisters; The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science UK; and Women Living Under Muslim Laws amongst others.

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The below is Mostafa Saber‘s speech delivered at The World Peace Forum Society Teach In, Vancouver, on October 25, 2014 on the Arab Spring – Revisiting the Revolution in Iran. Saber is in the Central Committee of the Worker-communist Party of Iran. Enjoy.

I intend to give you my assessment of the Arab Spring and its relationship with the Iranian revolutions of 1979 and 2009. I will be making three points.

The first point is that it was no accident that Ayatollah Khomeini and Margaret Thatcher came to power almost at the same time, respectively 1979 and 1980. They were, in a way, two sides of the same coin!

Everyone knows that Thatcher smashed the labor movement. That is what she was famous for and proud of. But, it might be new to some of you to hear that Khomeini slaughtered a whole generation of labor activists, communists, women’s right activists and dissidents, and we still don’t know where many of their graves are.

In recent history, nothing has been more misrepresented than the 1979 revolution in Iran. At its heart, it was a working class revolution that was ultimately defeated by the Islamic movement, which was backed by Western powers who had lost hope in the Shah of Iran. Meanwhile, this Islamic movement was portrayed as the revolution itself when it was a counter-revolution, and a very brutal and reactionary one. It was labeled as a “spiritual” revolution! It was not just a falsification of concept; more importantly, it was the beginning of a practical problem not only for the workers, women and all people in countries like Iran, but for the whole world. I’m referring to the rise of political Islam, the latest product of which is ISIS. If Margret Thatcher and the crushing of the miners’ strike in the UK was the beginning of the new conservatism, so was Khomeini’s movement, and his bloody victory over the actual revolution in Iran, the beginning of political Islam.

To make my first point short: Thatcher and Khomeini were both products and agents of a shift in world history. This shift sought to end the stagnation period that had followed the Golden Age of capitalism (1945 to 1973) and to begin the New Liberal globalization era, which started in the 1980s. Capitalism after World War 2 expanded rapidly and had reached the point of over saturated accumulation of capital, especially in old industrial countries. Now it needed new blood, namely cheap labor! How did capitalism resolve this? It did so, among other things, by smashing labor movements, ending the welfare state, attacking the left and all progressive movements everywhere, moving capital and production to less saturated markets or by globalizing the production of surplus value. What was the political structure of this new globalization? Well, it was the so called “conservative revolution.” My point is that Thatcher in the west and Khomeini in the Middle East were the pioneers of this reactionary “revolution” that has devastated our planet for the last 3 to 4 decades. [Read more…]

Theirs is a politics of siding with the oppressors at the expense of progressive social movements and class politics and most importantly real live human beings.

As I mentioned in my speech, you can be opposed to both US-led militarism and Islamism – something they are clueless about because they have an affinity with the Islamists. How dare they show up and give lip service against ISIS when they have fully supported so many ISIS’ across the world?

BTW, Fariborz Pooya’s speech at the 1 November Global day of Action for Kobane can be seen below too:

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On 25 October, there were huge protests against acid-attacks against women in Iran. Here is our statement condemning acid throwing, holding the regime responsible and showing our solidarity with the protesting people of Iran.

Against acid-throwing on women in Iran and in solidarity with protests
25 October 2014

Here’s a photo of a protest against acid-throwing at Noushirvani University in Babul

Here’s a video of protests in Tehran

Here are some of the actions that took place as reported by the Worker-communist Party of Iran:

Gohardasht Prison

14 political prisoners of Gohardasht prison in Karaj held a hunger strike in solidarity with the protesters against acid attacks.

Shahr-e-Kord

Students on strike in protest against the acid attacks, with the University virtually closed. Shops on Boulevard Kashani, Sa’di Road, Hafez Boulevard North, the whole of Mir-Abad East and West and Mellat and Farabi Roads are closed.

Tehran
Women’s demo around Fatemi district, 1pm local time

The security forces had been deployed from around 12 noon in front of the Interior Ministry. A number of the regime’s vigilantes on motorbikes were trying to intimidate the protesters by hitting on the accelerator. The regime’s plainclothes officers had blocked the ways to the assembly point. At 1pm the security forces started attacking a number of women who were moving towards the Interior Ministry building. The slogans that were changed included: The acid thrower is a mercenary, we have no security! Acid throwing is a crime, fellow citizen give your support! There were scuffles between the protesters and the security forces, and the crowd dispersed.

Meanwhile, a number of students held a protest gathering from 10am at Revolution Square against both the acid attacks and the brutal execution early this morning of Reyhaneh Jabbari, the 26-year-old woman accused of killing a former Intelligence Ministry employee who had tried to rape her when she was 19. The security forces attacked the demonstration and a number of protesters were arrested.

Isfahan
There is a tense atmosphere here. Many girls’ schools are reported to be closed. Many students of the University of Isfahan have refused to attend classes, with up to 50% of classes reportedly cancelled. The University’s Security is tightly controlling entrances and exits. Shops in Emam Ali Square, Sabzeh Square, Shohada and Sharif Vaghefi Road are closed. People are making their way to Darvazeh Dowlat, where the shops are also closed. The security forces and plainclothes vigilantes of the regime are also present.

Darvazeh Dowlat district, 1pm local time
Between 2 to 3 thousand people had gathered in the area. The security forces and plainclothes vigilantes had a heavy presence. By 3pm, despite the attacks by the security forces, people continued to chant slogans. The Special Unit of the security forces used tear gas to disperse the crowd. In the scuffles that followed a number of people were arrested.

Shiraz
1.30pm local time

People assembled around the Municipal Square and started chanting slogans. The roads leading to the Square had been blocked. A number of people were arrested.

Rasht

Students at the University of Rasht held a protest outside the Science Building. Around half an hour later the security forces attacked the protest, arresting two people. The crowd moved towards a nearby park, continuing their protest there.

Saqez
1.30pm local time

A large crowd gathered in protest at the acid attacks near the Governor’s office, chanting slogans against the acid attacks and also ‘death to the dictator’. There were scuffles with the security forces.

In the combined protests of today at least 10 people have been arrested.

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They killed Reyhaneh on October 25 – a day of international protest against the throwing of acid on women in Iran for “bad veiling”. Reyhaneh lives on in all those fighting against the vile Islamic regime of Iran.

Despite huge amounts of security, her funeral was held yesterday on 26 October.

See the statement of the International Committee against Execution on Reyhaneh’s execution:

To the millions of people who followed the fate of this young girl, to the thousands who took to the streets to save dear Reyhaneh, to the thousands of mothers in Iran who shed tears and begged for forgiveness on the media, we sadly have to report that Reyhaneh Jabbari was executed this morning.

This is a horrific piece of news on this bloody Saturday, when people are set to come out on the streets in the cities across Iran to protest against the acid attacks on women. We hope that a magnificent protest by the people today will be a fitting response to this brutal and shameless crime of the Islamic regime in Iran.

The Islamic regime’s ideologues, its professional criminals and murderers, the real killers of Sarbandi (whom Reyhaneh was accused of killing), all banded together and despite an enormous international outcry executed this young woman.

They put Reyhaneh under pressure in prison, extracted confessions, filmed the scenes and then killed her. This is the regime of Iran’s ISIS.

The execution of Reyhaneh and the many years of dealing with the judicial system of the Islamic Republic over the fate of Reyhaneh showed to the world the hideousness and viciousness of this regime and its judicial system.

Let everyone see the kind of monsters the people of Iran are dealing with. Let the world see that the one skill the heads of the Islamic regime, from the supreme leader to Rafsanjani, the president Rouhani, the paramilitary force Sepah and the Ministry of Intelligence, have in common is this: murder, lying and barbarity.

Millions of people see this now. The regime lied to the grieving parents of a young girl who for seven years fought to save their loved one; they spread rumours and did everything they could to stop Reyhaneh’s parents from saving their daughter.

Even before telling Reyhaneh’s family that they had killed Reyhaneh, they callously announced the news of the execution through their state media, while Reyhaneh’s mum and dad, sister and grandma were waiting outside the prison gates.

This is the abhorrent regime of the Islamic Republic. This is the regime of Islamic criminals, the ISIS ruling Iran.

If they don’t kill, how are they going to deal with others like Reyhaneh? How are they going to deal with the youth shaking the ground under the feet; those who don’t give a damn for the mullahs, Islamic leaders and the loathsome Islamic Republic?

But the regime in Iran should be certain of this: by killing Reyhaneh, they will only harvest a storm.

The International Committee against Execution calls on all to turn the sorrow and pain of the loss of Reyhaneh to public rage against the foundations of the murderous Islamic regime.

A broad coalition of secularists, including believers, free-thinkers, agnostics and atheists assembled from the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and the Diaspora at the unprecedented and historic gathering to discuss resistance against the repression and violence of ISIS and other manifestations of the religious-Right, including in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, India, Iran, Israel, Libya, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Turkey, Tunisia and Yemen. They also discussed the urgent need to defend secularism, universal values and citizenship rights.

The conference, which was convened by Algerian sociologist Marieme Helie Lucas and Iranian-born Campaigner Maryam Namazie, adopted a Manifesto for Secularism which criticised neo-conservatism, neo-liberalism, communalism and cultural relativism and affirmed the complete separation of religion from the state and public policy, freedom of religion and atheism and freedom to criticise religions as well as equality between women and men and citizenship rights for all. It also called for the abolition of religious laws in the family, civil and criminal codes and an end to discrimination against and persecution of LGBT, religious minorities, women, freethinkers, ex-Muslims, and others.

The conference highlighted the voices of the many persecuted and exiled, the long standing resistance against the religious-Right and the depth and strength of the demand for secularism all over the world despite grave risks. It also set the stage for the development of a broad international front for secularism to challenge the religious-Right, racism and all forms of bigotry.

The Indonesian band SIMPONI was announced winner of One Law for All’s Sounds of Freedom award with their entry “Sister in Danger”, a tribute to Indonesian victims of sexual violence.

The Conference was endorsed by Atheist Alliance International; Bread and Roses TV; Children First Now; Center for Inquiry; Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain; Equal Rights Now – Organisation against Women’s Discrimination in Iran; Fitnah – Movement for Women’s Liberation; International Committee against Stoning; International Committee against Execution; International Federation of Iranian Refugees; Iran Solidarity; National Secular Society; One Law for All; Pink Triangle Trust; Secularism is a Women’s Issue; The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science UK; and Women Living Under Muslim Laws amongst others.

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It seems be an Islamist, you must not only have a thing for murder but you have to be downright stupid as well.

Here’s an email circulated amongst the “brothers” on 10 October Friday before the 11-12 October conference on the Religious-Right, Secularism and Civil Rights in London trying to mobilise their herds to stop our event by frightening the hotel where our event was taking place. The threats the hotel received were so serious that the police became involved and more stringent security measures were put in place.

Assalamalykum

Please do not ignore this message.

This weekend the council of ex muslims led by maryam namazi are holding a conference at the tower Guoman hotel. This event is full of hate preachers who’s intention is only to provoke Muslims and offend.

We need to make a stand against this event. We need you all to message and call the hotel today and demand that they do not allow the event to go ahead. Or at least ban Maryam namazi to be at the event…

A bit about Maryam Namazi

She has led a crusade against Muslims and islam and got many islamic events banned in the UK. She did a protest against the hijaab and by stripping nude in public and using the Iranians flag to cover her self. She cut out the part where it says Allah and put her private part there and then says this is better.

Make a stand for your Deen by getting her banned. Email and call the hotel now. And forward this message.
beconvinced.com

It is absurd when those preaching hate and defending murder call those resisting them “hate preachers”.

On Saturday, a few Islamists tried to get into the conference and were stopped by security. One of them even said he was a friend. Err, I don’t have any fascist friends, sorry.

One also texted me at the conference telling me he was waiting for me in reception: Ameenur Rasheed (07939 847723). One waited all day long right in front of the entrance maybe because he thought we would be intimidated?

Err, I don’t think so.

Also, both the websites of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and One Law for All were down for several days due to sustained attacks.

Even so, our conference went ahead and 250 delegates from all over, particularly from the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and the Diapora, exposed Islamism and the religious-Right and defended secularism and citizenship rights.

The conference culminated in a Manifesto for Secularism – supported by believers and none – as an important step in creating an international front to challenge the fascists of our era.

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Our era is marked by the rise of the religious-Right – not because of a “religious revival” but rather due to the rise of far-Right political movements and states using religion for political supremacy. This rise is a direct consequence of neo-conservatism and neo-liberalism and the social policies of communalism and cultural relativism. Universalism, secularism and citizenship rights have been abandoned and segregation of societies and “communities” based on ethnicity, religion and culture have become the norm.

The Islamic State (formerly ISIS), the Saudi regime, Hindutva (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) in India, the Christian-Right in the US and Europe, Bodu Bala Sena in Sri Lanka, Haredim in Israel, AQMI and MUJAO in Mali, Boko Haram in Nigeria, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Salvation Front in Algeria are examples of this.

For many decades now, people in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and the Diaspora have been the first victims but also on the frontlines of resistance against the religious-Right (whether religious states, organisations and movements) and in defence of secularism and universal rights, often at great risk to their lives.

We call on people everywhere to stand with us to establish an international front against the religious-Right and for secularism. We demand:

Complete separation of religion from the state. Secularism is a fundamental right.

Separation of religion from public policy, including the educational system, health care and scientific research.

Abolition of religious laws in the family, civil and criminal codes. An end to discrimination against and persecution of LGBT, religious minorities, women, freethinkers, ex-Muslims, and others.

Freedom of religion and atheism and freedom to criticise religions. Belief as a private affair.